In the fall of 1969 the?Rolling Stones?were in a Los Angeles recording studio, putting the final touches on their album?Let it Bleed. It was a tumultuous time for the Stones. They had been struggling with the album for the better part of a year as they dealt with the personal disintegration of their founder and multi-instrumentalist Brian Jones, whose drug addiction and personality problems had reached a critical stage. Jones was fired from the band in June of that year. He died less than a month later. And although the Stones couldn?t have known it at the time, the year would end on another catastrophic note, as violence broke out at the notorious?Altamont Free Concert?just a day after?Let it Bleed?was released.
It was also a grim time around the world. The assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert F. Kennedy, the Tet Offensive, the brutal suppression of the Prague Spring?all of these were recent memories. Not surprisingly,?Let it Bleed?was not the most cheerful of albums. As Stephen Davis writes in his book?Old Gods Almost Dead: The 40-Year Odyssey of the Rolling Stones, ?No rock record, before or since, has ever so completely captured the sense of palpable dread that hung over its era.? And no song onLet it Bleed?articulates this dread with greater force than the apocalyptic ?Gimme Shelter,? in which Mick Jagger sings of a fire ?sweepin? our very street today,? like a ?Mad bull lost his way.?Rape, murder!It?s just a shot awayIt?s just a shot away
In an interview last November with Melissa Block for the NPR program?All Things Considered, Jagger talked about those lyrics, and the making of the song:

00:00

00:00

One of the most striking moments in the interview is when Jagger describes the circumstances surrounding soul singer?Merry Clayton?s powerful background vocals. ?When we got to Los Angeles and we were mixing it, we thought, ?Well, it?d be great to have a woman come and do the rape/murder verse,? or chorus or whatever you want to call it,? said Jagger. ?We randomly phoned up this poor lady in the middle of the night, and she arrived in her curlers and proceeded to do that in one or two takes, which is pretty amazing. She came in and knocked off this rather odd lyric. It?s not the sort of lyric you give anyone??Rape, murder/It?s just a shot away??but she really got into it, as you can hear on the record.?
The daughter of a Baptist minister, Merry Clayton grew up singing in her father?s church in New Orleans. She made her professional debut at age 14, recording a duet with Bobby Darin. She went on to work with The Supremes, Elvis Presley and many others, and was a member of Ray Charles?s group of backing singers, The Raelettes. She is one of the singers featured in the new documentary film,?20 Feet From Stardom. In aninterview last week with Terry Gross?on NPR?s?Fresh Air, Clayton talked about the night she was asked to sing on ?Gimme Shelter?:Well, I?m at home at about 12?I?d say about 11:30, almost 12 o?clock at night. And I?m hunkered down in my bed with my husband, very pregnant, and we got a call from a dear friend of mine and producer named Jack Nitzsche. Jack Nitzsche called and said you know, Merry, are you busy? I said No, I?m in bed. he says, well, you know, There are some guys in town from England. And they need someone to come and sing a duet with them, but I can?t get anybody to do it. Could you come? He said I really think this would be something good for you.
At that point, Clayton recalled, her husband took the phone out of her hand and said, ?Man, what is going on? This time of night you?re calling Merry to do a session? You know she?s pregnant.? Nitzsche explained the situation, and just as Clayton was drifting back to sleep her husband nudged her and said, ?Honey, you know, you really should go and do this date.? Clayton had no idea who the Rolling Stones were. When she arrived at the studio, Keith Richards was there and explained what he wanted her to do.I said, Well, play the track. It?s late. I?d love to get back home. So they play the track and tell me that I?m going to sing?this is what you?re going to sing: Oh, children, it?s just a shot away. It had the lyrics for me. I said, Well, that?s cool. So ?I did the first part, and we got down to the rape, murder part. And I said, Why am I singing rape, murder? ?So they told me the gist of what the lyrics were, and I said Oh, okay, that?s cool. So then I had to sit on a stool because I was a little heavy in my belly. I mean, it was a sight to behold. And we got through it. And then we went in the booth to listen, and I saw them hooting and hollering while I was singing, but I didn?t know what they were hooting and hollering about. And when I got back in the booth and listened, I said, Ooh, that?s really nice. They said, well, You want to do another? ?I said, well, I?ll do one more, I said and then I?m going to have to say thank you and good night. I did one more, and then I did one more. So it was three times I did it, and then I was gone. The next thing I know, that?s history.
Clayton sang with such emotional force that her voice cracked. (?I was just grateful that the crack was in tune,? she told Gross.) In the isolated vocal track above, you can hear the others in the studio shouting in amazement. Despite giving what would become the most famous performance of her career, it turned out to be a tragic night for Clayton. Shortly after leaving the studio, she lost her baby in a miscarriage. It has generally been assumed that the stress from the emotional intensity of her performance and the lateness of the hour caused the miscarriage. For many years Clayton found the song too painful to hear, let alone sing. ?That was a dark, dark period for me,? she told the?Los Angeles Times?in 1986, ?but God gave me the strength to overcome it. I turned it around. I took it as life, love and energy and directed it in another direction, so it doesn?t really bother me to sing ?Gimme Shelter? now. Life is short as it is and I can?t live on yesterday.?

Over the years, CNN.com has become a news website that many people turn to for top-notch reporting. Every day it is visited by millions of people, all of whom rely on ?The Worldwide Leader in News??that?s our slogan?for the most crucial, up-to-date information on current events. So, you may ask, why was this morning?s top story, a spot usually given to the most important foreign or domestic news of the day, headlined ?Miley Cyrus Did What???? and accompanied by the subhead ?Twerks, stuns at VMAs?? Continue reading “Why Miley Cyrus is news”

In Suicide Note, Iraq War Veteran Says He Was Forced to Participate In War?Crimes

On June 10, 2013, 30-year-old Iraq War veteran Daniel Somers killed himself after writing a powerful letter to his family explaining his reasons for doing so.
?My mind is a wasteland filled with visions of incredible horror, unceasing depression, and crippling anxiety, even with all of the medications the doctors dare give,? reads the letter, which Somers? family allowed?Gawker?to?publish. Somers went on to reveal the source of his pain: Continue reading “Forced to Participate In War Crimes”

At the end of 1956, generally conceded to be the cultural birth year of rock ‘n’ roll, the best-selling album in America was not?Elvis Presley?or?Elvis, it was Harry Belafonte’s?Calypso. Belafonte was one of America’s most popular entertainers of the mid-twentieth century and parlayed his commercial success into civil rights activism. Calypso music had come from Trinidad and Tobago, with roots in West African Kaiso music and the migration of French planters and their slaves from Martinique and Dominica:Continue reading “Harry Belafonte – "Banana Boat Song (Day O)" – 1956”

Jabbar Bhandari was a freedom fighter. He fought with Kader (Tiger) Siddiqui in Tangail. ?He now makes a living as a Baul Singer.

A Freedom Fighter Sings of 1971 from Shahidul Alam on Vimeo.
He had also conducted operations in Kaderpur and Haluaghat. Now much of his time is spent around Suhrwardy Uddyan where the deed of surrender was signed in 1971. ?I found him slowly walking along the photographic exhibition on 1971 we had orgasised. He would stop and peer intently at each photograph. I asked him what he was looking at. ?I am looking at myself he said. It is me you have photographed.? ?I asked him what he thought of Bangladesh now. Whether he still dreamt of the Bangladesh he had fought for. ?He replied wistfully, ?It?s good we are free.? Then he paused and said. ?Sometimes I dream. Sometimes I don?t.?
I have never seen him since.

THIS IS IT. OITIJ-JO IS HERE.
A WORLD CLASS VENUE AT THE HEART OF LONDON, SERIES OF WORLD CLASS EXHIBITS, WORLD CLASS ARTISTS AND EMERGING TALENT.
COME AND EXPLORE BANGLA CREATIVITY WITH US THIS WEEKEND!
includes free exhibitions and tickets start from ?5.00! Continue reading “Bangladesh extravaganza in London”

Chobi Mela, the first festival of photography in Asia, is one of the most exciting ventures that Drik has initiated. The first Chobi Mela ? International Festival of Photography was held Dec.1999-January 2000. It is the most demographically inclusive photo festival in the world and is held every two years in Dhaka. The festival examines the dramatic shifts in image production, ownership and distribution brought on by new developments in the media landscape.Chobi Mela – International Festival of Photography
January 25 to February 7, 2013
House 58, Road 15A (New),
Dhanmondi, Dhaka 1209
Bangladesh
Tel: +880-2-8123412, 8112954
Fax: +880-2-9115044
Email: [email protected]

Posts navigation

Headers and Snippets

Majority World – a photo agency with a difference!
MW is an innovative agency that specialises in high quality imagery that provides unique insights into local cultures, development issues, environments and contemporary lifestyles in these diverse continents. It is a social enterprise that works with client organisations to commission assignments with experienced photographers who understand the language, the culture, and the locality because it is their own.
To know more click on this link (http://www.majorityworld.com)